turn that frown upside down!

Actually i'm quite liking this new format- does one agree?

So I've had an interesting day.
Wellll... not that interesting but the latter end of the day was quite surreal.

I like cats. I like them a lot. A lot, a lot. I have a cat called Massimo, a cat called Crosby and I did have, until today, a third cat called Stewy. Stewy was 22 years old and he was getting a little scruffy in his old age but he had this strange wise vibe around him, like a sort of aura- a feline aura. He was blind and his eyes were cloudy but they still seemed to see everything, understand everything, empathise with everything. They reminded me of of white opals- slightly iridescent and milky. Today he had to be put down because he was extremely ill and i only found out when i was on my home on the train.

I don't know if you've ever cried in a public space but it really does feel like you are in the movies- everything goes quiet and you notice people looking at you and you notice things about people that you wouldn't notice otherwise. As the tears run down your face you notice that, though crying makes perfect sense to you, everyone else is wondering what's wrong.

I was sat opposite this boy who seemed to be keeping himself to himself but i could see that he had noticed the tears. He looked sorry, as if he felt he needed to apologise to me for whatever had happened. As the train left the station he took a little piece of folded origami paper out of his bag and wrote something on it. I in turn took a piece of paper and made him a very small paper crane.

As the train drew into my stop he stood and handed me the piece of paper and i placed the crane in his hand. The piece of paper read "don't be sad. everything will be okay."

And that's all i wanted to say.
Today's life tip (As stolen from the boy on the train): "don't be sad. everything will be okay."Even stewy will be okay. Stewy won't suffer anymore and i have stopped crying. Don't worry, be happy.

The Internet- quel désastre!

i suppose i should stick to my "give a tip, write a bit" structure but i feel like a change. So here it goes... the long one... the one that (hopefully) hits home... the... deep... and.... meaningful... one...

Not long ago i went to new york during hurricane sandy- it was exciting to say the least- and i got a sudden sense of the fragility of society. Electricity connects us to everyone and has the power to cut us off from everywhere and everyone we love- without a mobile phone, without internet, without tv... even now i am communicating using electricity. I am reaching people i have never even met and i feel like i'm talking to you, i feel like i'm having a conversation.

I was thinking about this when i was involved in a controversial debate about perspectives on homosexuality (Before any of you ask- I am a huge LGBT supporter but i, myself, am heterosexual). I found myself in a room where people were happy to use religion to justify views which i had always assumed were held only by extreme fundamentalist believers in various far away places. apparently i was wrong. I saw people i had always trusted, cared about and been friendly with change into bigoted monsters cowering behind the Bible and its various, ambiguous translations. I suddenly realised that on my Facebook i have liked the Wipe out Homophobia page ( https://www.facebook.com/WHOF1?fref=ts ) but that no one else in that room even knew it existed. I found myself worrying that my friends would desert me, that my little world would fall apart and that they might assume that i was lesbian and hurt me because of it. It was stupid really. But interesting. Interesting to see how people react to prejudice- how i react to prejudice- and how social media has affected how much we know about each other.

in one click i can find out what books my friends like, what tv shows they watch, what music they listen to, whether they are single, in a relationship or 'it's complicated with...' I don't feel like i even need to meet people face to face to get to know them. I can have friendships only through texting, seeing the person on a train once every 3 months and sending Facebook messages. I can tell someone exactly what i think about them without even having to see how they react. I can use sarcasm and have it interpreted incorrectly, i can write blunt and rude emails just as easily as nice ones to make someone feel wanted, I can write a blog and know that someone, somewhere must be listening.

i suppose it's largely a good thing. Instant communication has kept my relationship with my best friend going even after she moved away- i'm proud to say that we have NEVER argued and that she will be visiting me for Christmas- and instant communication has allowed me to show my support for the LGBT community, has allowed me to write what i think and read what i want. But i think (to return to the "write a tip structure") we all need to keep electricity in perspective. Nothing can replace a real smile- no matter how nice the profile picture is or the emoticon used! nothing can replace a real chat- no matter how many CAPS LOCK WORDS or 'ajbakgbkfjdb's or typed letters are used. Nothing can replace a laugh- not even lol, lmao or rofl can do that. And absolutely nothing can replace real humans rather than the filtered robots we meet everyday via the internet. Maybe we should all take a step back and say "Thank you internet for helping us but could you just relax a little? I'm not in the mood for notifications."

Tip number whatever we are up to....
Try not to touch your computer for a day and communicate only with real speech and letters written and posted with a stamp and an address. Go back in time for just a few hours and sigh. it's nice isn't it? not to have to constantly stare at the glare of a screen? very good. me likey.

Me and Mrs Jones

gosh i haven't written in a while... sorry...
But now i have NEWS!!!
for those of you who live in the UK (sorry everyone else) there's a new sit com coming out at 9:30 on friday October 12 on bbc 1! It's called ME AND MRS JONES and my Mummsy produced it! It's got an amazing cast from misfits heart throb- Robert Sheehan, The voice of the bob the builders them tune- Neil Morrissey to Sarah Alexander, the wonderful leading lady who was in coupling and smack the pony.
Anyhewww.... i would love it if you would watch it and tell me what you think!!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00wzj1c

so i suppose the tip for today is....
WATCH ME AND MRS JONES! it's hilarious!!!

new words and why we lurvve them

a little night time tip (experimental and alternative, eh?) for you to go to sleep with.
here it is: make up words! or spellings of words! or meanings of words!
it means messages are in your own words, literally. it makes texts so much more entertaining. it creates private jokes between you and your mates. it's great. i do it all the time. you should too.
so there you are... alrighty? almighty? i'm tired.

Books and Paris and Paris and Books

books, books, books...

recently i've been reading a lot of books that mention paris- unintentionally... but i must say they've all be quite good. the first was Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly, the second was This is life by Dan Rhodes and the third Perfume by Patrick Suskind. 

So, today's tip is read. It's so relaxing, wonderful and it certainly keeps your brain ticking along. 

Miss Nobody's 15 fave Rom Coms

yesterday i spent the entire day watching rom coms. so my Tip for today is: Relax, watch rom coms and eat nutella. It proves to be a fantastic remedy for feeling a bit half hearted and miserable. To get you started here are a few of my favourite rom coms/movies (in no particular order):
1: 4 weddings and a funeral
2: the Proposal
3: the back up plan
4: friends with benefits
5: Notting hill
6: Love Actually
7: Brdget Jones's Diary (and Bridget Jones: the edge of Reason)
8: 2 weeks notice
9: The change up
10: 50 first dates
11: just go with it
12: PS i love you
13: He's just not that into you
14: Breakfast at Tiffany's
15: Beaches
so there you have it- Miss Nobody's favourite 15 movies to watch when you're down in the dumps. hope you enjoy them :)
so the Tip is watch them!

Gatherings and good luck.

when organising a gathering you must ensure that the "life of the party" is you. after all it's you they must remember and so here is my tip.
Tip number 6: let the world revolve around you for an evening.
good luck.

Birthdays...

ahh... the time of the year when all your friends have birthdays... presents slowly depreciate in cost and personal value and your cards become less and less enthusiastic... HBD becomes your new best friend )(in the abbreviation world) and you start to buy cards that already have a greeting written inside... But all is not lost for Miss Nobody has a solution!
Tip 5: find just one thing that your friend likes and buy something vaguely related. for example my best mate loves playing scrabble so i got her a scrabble mug. it isn't hard to find something in second hand shops etc and if you do one shopping trip and buy 7 or so presents you can fill up a 'present draw'. once you've got one of those you can just give people 'present draw' presents and everything's a lot easier. also never write HBD. Your friend will no longer be your friend. if you can't remember their actual birthday don't just write something on Facebook- send them a text etc.
just a little rant about the small amount of time and effort birthday's actually require. don't be lazy, be a good friend.

Bake Cake

Tip number 4: BAKE! you really ought to. i personally love baking- whether it be cake, pastry or pudding as long as it's baked i love making it! i recently made tiny sponge cakes with lemon curd filling and they were delicious! if i do say so myself... but yes- tip number 4: baking is good for you and you should do it!

Give them your all

Tip Number three: if the get given an opportunity to be good, be excellent.
it takes a certain level of intelligence and determination to follow this one through, but you know what i might as well give you all a challenge. what i mean by this tip is if someone says "I want you to sing in front of someone" or "i would really enjoying watching you perform" or "i want to sample some of your poetry" don't just give them a simple, comfortable thing that you know is ok but not your best, give them your all- your best shot is your best arrow after all.

Efficiency

I recently, by which i mean today, discovered that i have been taking the longest route from the station to my house every day and that there is one that is far quicker that i never knew about. And so my second tip is:

2: try every route in life until you find the quickest, best and most efficient route to where you want to go.

*this applies to everything from bus journeys to career paths. it eliminates the feeling of looking back and thinking "if only i had...."

Harry Potter...

so after a few days of subjecting one's self to JK Rowling I've decided my first tip for this fool proof guide, tested by me, is LISTEN TO YOUR FRIENDS. a very important thing to do- look past your preconceptions and inner snob and listen, don't necessarily follow the advice but if you listen you might discover something. after all since listening to my mates i've discovered potter isn't so bad and that friends quite like it when you listen to them.
to clarify:
tip 1~ Listen to your friends, and family as a matter of fact, sometimes (but not always) they are right.

changing the world one tip at a time

To begin changing the world I have decided I need to know the world. And to do that I have to begin at the bottom. I am going to read any book -within reason- that is recommended to me whether it be sci-fi or shakespeare, new or old, bad or good. I have begun with the books I have refused to read for many years but that have been thrust at me at every occasion by my friends..... Harry Potter......

Once upon a time...

And so the journey begins... To start I'd like to introduce myself: I'm Miss Nobody, nice to meet you.
Well now that's done we can get down to the serious business of explaining exactly what this blog is....

I have one ambition in life: to change the world. Whether anyone notices the change doesn't matter, but I don't intend to float through life without leaving even a fingerprint on the world. I certainly don't intend to spend my entire life waiting for someone else to leave their mark before leaving mine.

This blog should, I hope, inform you of exactly how I change the world and by the time I sign off for the last time I intend to sign off knowing that the world is different because of me and that Miss Nobody is finally Somebody.